Your body burns more calories digesting protein than carbs or fat.
Scientific Claim
Diet-induced thermogenesis is significantly higher for dietary protein compared to carbohydrates and fats due to the energetic cost of protein absorption, metabolism, and amino acid synthesis.
Original Statement
“Whenever you eat anything your metabolism increases. This is called diet induced thermogenesis or the thermic effect of food. Basically, it takes some energy to absorb and digest nutrients that you just ate. Protein has a particularly high thermic effect of food, so high protein diets are commonly recommended for fat loss.”
Context Details
Domain
nutrition
Population
human
Subject
dietary protein
Action
induces
Target
a higher thermic effect of food compared to carbohydrates and fats
Intervention Details
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (2)
Effects of Varying Protein Amounts and Types on Diet-Induced Thermogenesis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
This study found that eating more protein makes your body burn more calories just to digest it, compared to eating the same amount of carbs or fat — which is exactly what the claim says.
Postprandial Thermogenesis Is Increased 100% on a High-Protein, Low-Fat Diet versus a High-Carbohydrate, Low-Fat Diet in Healthy, Young Women
This study found that eating a lot of protein makes your body burn more calories after meals than eating a lot of carbs, which is exactly what the claim says — protein takes more energy to process.
Contradicting (2)
The study found that eating protein burns more calories after eating than eating carbs or fat, which matches the claim — but it shows this isn’t because of a special fat-burning tissue in the body (BAT), as the claim might suggest. So the result is right, but the reason given in the claim is wrong.
The study found that eating protein didn’t make your body burn significantly more calories than eating carbs or fats, even though some people think it does. So, the claim that protein burns way more calories isn’t backed by this research.